A Twinsane Wedding

Chapter 15 Truth, Lies and A Sister Spy

'I have both an uncle and a great aunt? This is the best day ever! Even if things aren't great between them, I'm really glad Uncle Neo brought me here.' Nina couldn't stop smiling ever since she had been given an in-depth explanation about her family. She felt that her face couldn't accommodate such an enormous expression. Nina watched as her aunt wiped down the counter and tidy up for the day. "Thank you for that wonderful tale of our old family Aunt Natalie, I really enjoyed it." Nina didn't want this day to end. She was tempted to ask him if she could invite her great aunt back to the castle with them but after seeing what had happened already between Cortex and his mother, Nina figured she would wait. She knew that her uncle couldn't say no to her but that didn't stop the girl from imagining all the fun times they could (hopefully) have together.

Warm eyes gazed back at her. "You're quite welcome Nina." Pretty soon Natalie's curiosity about the girls metal appendages at the end of her arms soon peaked her interest as she sat her rag down, momentarily pausing her task of finishing up her work. Grasping one she looked it over very carefully, taking in every bolt, every metal digit. Nina was cautious as to not suddenly curl her fingers into a literal iron fist and accidentally crush her great aunts bones. "What's with the metal hands? Don't get me wrong, they're quite something, got a little weight to them and I'm really intrigued but...why?"

Why? That was the question that caused Nina to freeze. The happy, entertaining thoughts of the old Cortex family circus act was pushed to the recesses of her mind. What rushed forward and replaced it, was the old memory of her uncles cruel and unusual punishment, due to his nieces soft heart. Nina almost couldn't answer immediately, because she didn't want to imagine Natalie's reaction. Gulping, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind which was obviously the truth since she didn't want to lie, "Ask Uncle Neo. He did it." That comment sparked a fire in Natalie's eyes.

Natalie then noticed her son had another guilty look on his face. Neo turned away from her to focus on nothing in particular but still looked at his mother out of the corner of his eye. He had heard that whole thing and just by seeing the anger and disappointed mix of emotions that his mother's eyes beared, he sniffled slightly. "Care to explain?" Natalie wondered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Swiveling around and gazing at Nina, the scientist noticed his niece was trembling, as she mouthed the words "Don't do it."

Neo lowered his head briefly but then brought it right back up. "I'm sorry." Is what he mouthed back to her. 'Since I told Dr. Jacobson I want to be a better person, I guess I may as well tell my mother the truth. What's the worst that can happen?' Finally, after one long solid minute, Neo broke the silence and held up his hands, as he locked eyes with his mother. "Alright, you've got me mother. You see Nina had a kind heart on top of a love for soft, fuzzy animals. I didn't consider her evil enough to my liking..." Neo took a small pause, he didn't want to fully explain but he assumed that Natalie would wait. She would wait as long as it took, he figured. "You see, because of her kind heart and nice demeanor, I kinda replaced her real hands with metal ones."

"Again why?" She asked, her curiosity killing the cat. Natalie was starting to get the message but she needed to know just a little bit more in order to have a clear picture and understanding. Why did her last remaining son resort to replacing his nieces real hands with a set of sci-fi ones?

Guilt began eating him alive and Neo practically yelled out the truth at the top of his lungs. "It was so she wouldn't be able to grasp or hug any sort of soft, cute, cuddly animal without crushing them and killing them in the process!" As the scientist cupped his hand over his mouth, he saw the customers and residence of Moulin Cortex look in his direction. Being greeted by angry glares and looks of annoyance from almost everyone, Neo just wanted to run but he knew he couldn't.

"Hey, would you pipe down mate!?" Dingodile yelled, his claws digging into the wooden table due to the thick atmospheric tension. "We come here for peace and quiet you know! "And you just ruined it!"

"Yeah, keep it down, your yelling is distracting! Ami snapped, blowing a tuft of green hair out of her face. Her and the rest of the female bandicoots tuned Cortex out for the rest of their performance.

"Oh sorry, I forgot, this is a place of peace and quiet I wouldn't want to DISTRACT anyone!" Cortex yelled, punctuating that second to last word. Ami growled at the scientist, her hands starting to curl into fists, which caused him to flinch and gulp with fear. Megumi and Liz held her back and calmed her down.

At that point, both Cortex's niece and mother even gave Neo a look too; one concerned, the other annoyed.

"How low are you willing to go to get what you want Neo? First you blow up and wipe out our family and now you take away your niece's ability to feel?" Natalie shook her head. "Where did me and your father go wrong in raising you?"

Cortex already knew the answer but right now, he didn't want to take anymore of this. Him and Nina still needed to make a stop at Madam Amberly's before heading back home. It also dawned on him that he needed to check in on his Lab Assistants and find out how the reconstruction of Cortex Castle was progressing. They had to be getting close to being done by now. Especially since Dr. Cortex had only given them one fifteen minute break per day. 'You can take a full rest once the full construction and restoration is done!' He had said. Cortex figured that if any of them powered down and malfunctioned, he could just replace them with a brand new robotic clone.

"Alright, this has been an interesting visit mother, don't need to answer that last question. I'm just glad you got to meet Nina. Now we must be off." He motioned Nina to follow. "Let's go." Neo wanted out of here as soon as possible. He had had enough emotional strain for one day. He just wanted to get back home and forget his horrible childhood and his estranged relationship with his mother.

Cortex also wanted to crack open Eric's book to see what it had to say. Hopefully it could help him start the process of fixing his life as well as trying to become friends with a certain orange marsupial which was easier said than done.

Clearly, it was going to be a long rest of the day for him.

However, the Cortex duo didn't make it two steps twords the door before Natalie stopped them in their tracks midway. "Wait, you're leaving?" She asked.

"Yes, mother, I've had enough drama for today, thank you very much. Also, why do you care? You said I was a disappointment." Neo responded, clearly shocked that his mother asked that.

"I wasn't talking to you." Natalie said as she hung up her apron for the day. Her son simply rolled his eyes as Nina looked twords her great aunt, before running back and enveloping her in a hug. "I was talking to your adorable niece." That comment made Nina squeal and hug Natalie tighter, nuzzling against her chest as she did, while Natalie patted the top of her head, brushing her spiky black hair back a little. Nina was quite content with all this at the moment but she knew she could not ignore her uncle.

Looking back at him, Nina noticed concern in his eyes. "Of course you were. Oh and I'm not adorable?" Neo wondered, crossing his arms over his chest before waltzing over and leaning up against the doorframe. He already knew the answer, he just wanted his mother's own opinion. Back in the days of the traveling family circus act, Neo had always been "the odd one out." The "black sheep of the family" as the old saying went. It had been like that all his life, even through school the torment that his family bestowed upon him had never entirely faded. It just drew mockery and shame from almost all of his classmates. Brio and N Gin were the only ones who were sympathetic enough to put up with his shenanigans and scientific interests all those years ago.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately? Cause you're quite the opposite of adorable." Natalie admitted. She didn't even feel anything even remotely related to guilt after saying that, since it was the truth and her own honest opinion. Her son couldn't even argue against that statement. Neo was aware that sometimes the truth hurt but he had gotten used to it over the years. He knew that not everyone liked him. Now he couldn't be even more relieved that Crash couldn't talk, who knows what he would have to say? Knowing Crash, it would probably be positive.

'As I already mentioned to Coco, there's a very small list of people who actually care about me. Mother is not one of those people, no. They would be: Crash, Nina, Tiny and recently added, Dr. Jacobson.' I'm on the fence about Brio though. At least I'm not completely alone here.' That was one thought that made him feel slightly better. Looking tword Nina, the goth girl was still wrapped tightly around Natalie. "Nina, you coming or not?" Her uncle asked, his foot starting to tap the wooden floor with impatience. "We're burning daylight here."

Nina figured that she would ask right now, since it was probably a good time. "I'm coming but I just wanna ask one thing Uncle Neo." She said, holding up one finger.

Her uncle knew that gesture meant 'give me a minute'. He sighed and ran a gloved hand down his face before backtracking and joining the ladies, knowing that he just couldn't get out of here quick enough. "And that one thing you wanna ask would be...?" He wondered trailing off.

As she unwrapped herself from her great aunt, Nina breifly paused to gather the question in her mind, she didn't want to screw this up. "Can Aunt Natalie come live with us?"

Neo's eyes widened in shock after hearing Nina's question. "What?! No, no, no, no, no! I refuse to let that happen!" He protested, holding up his hands and waving them around.

"And why not?" Nina wondered, a look of confusion on her face.

"Cause, family living together is a bad idea. At this point I think I'd rather start the process of trying to befriend Crash, rather then have my own mother living with us and criticize every little thing I do!" Neo seethed.

"What did you just say!?" That comment from her own son did it, forcing Natalie to release the girl and raise her hand once more, unable to resist her urge to punish him. Neo flinched and fell backward, hitting the ground hard as he recoiled away, flattening himself up against the wall.

'Now I've really done it. Why did I open my mouth? This is Madam Amberlys all over again.'

Neo looked up in fear and gulped, his face drained of color, the remains of his hair that he still on his head stood on end as Natalie brought her arm down again. Like a hammer heading right for a nail.


Coco paced back and forth her current feelings (now consisting of anger, guilt, stress and betrayal) were still swirling inside here. She started to wonder how she was going to keep this a secret from her family. As much as she hated to, it was for their own good. The bandicoot girl rubbed circles on her forehead, trying to get her thoughts straight.

Coco just had to focus and not let the truth slip but she was smart enough to not let that happen.

'I can't beleive that I'm working against my own family but this is for a very good reason. Family is the most important thing to me. Without my brothers, Pura and Aku Aku, I'd be all alone.' Being alone was one of her worst fears. Sure the solitude was welcoming every once and a while so she could focus on her work but Coco didn't want it all the time. 'Of course, I want to get even with Cortex and once I hear from him himself that he's head over heels for my brother then I can truly start plotting my revenge.' Eliminating that scientist is my one goal.'

The sound of rustling kitchen utensils broke Coco's thoughts. "Coco?" Brio asked.

"Yeah?" She stopped midway to the door and gave her attention to the chemist.

Brio handed her the cork capped beaker containing the serum. "N Gin forgot this, would you mind taking it to him? Please?"

"Sure, I'm heading that way anyway." Taking the mixture in hand with a tight grip around the neck of the glass container as to not drop it, she headed out of the room to see what all the commotion was about. Opening the door, green eyes widened when she saw a mess of kitchen tools sprawled all over the floor and N Gin muttering to himself.

"What the!? Coco exclaimed.

"Where are you you little pan, I know you're in here somewhere?" The cyborg was focused on this task from the rest of the team that he didn't even hear Coco's shriek of surprise.

"You doing alright N Gin?" Coco wondered, feeling slightly awkward as she asked that question. 'Why am I even asking this, he's mentally unstable?"

N Gin, now donning a chefs outfit, (consisting of a hat, a red scarf around his neck, a white chefs coat and apron and black pants) paused his work in finding a pan to use to answer Coco's question. "Doing just fine, thanks for your concern." He turned around and then tilted his head. "Why do you ask?" N Gin questioned, as he finally pulled out the container he was looking for. He sat the pan down on the stove and lit the burner, before grabbing a wooden spoon from the drawer. Placing it down on a spoon rest, he headed for the fridge.

Coco's eyes started focusing on something else but she spoke what was on her mind. "No reason, just wondering; have you ever actually cooked before? Just curious as to why the team is relying on you for this little task?"

N Gin happily answered the girls question while at the same time, he was scoping the shelves to see what he could rustle up for Cortex's lunch. After much consideration, he had finally settled on a hearty plate of old fashioned spaghetti. N Gin collected the bottle of sauce and noodles from the cupboard as he explained the origins of his culinary journey. "Well, the team knows that I took a cooking class back in my days of the academy."

"And let me guess, the first attempt didn't go so well?" That was the only thing that Coco could assume. Ever since their last battle in space four years ago, she never figured that N Gin would ever pick up a different hobby rather than robots that fired lasers.

"Exactly I kinda burned everything I made but hey, the first pancake never turns out well right? Reminds me, the very first time I tried cooking, Madam Amberly actually assigned us pancakes as our first project. Coincidence? I think not. Me making Cortex's lunch is my opportunity to get this cooking thing down. I shall not fail this time!" N Gin snapped his finger and pointed it confidently tword the sky as he dumped the noodles in.

Coco caught a glimpse of a hot sauce bottle next to a pile of fresh Wumpa Fruits and a cup for their juice, after N Gin had poured half of that bottle in with the pasta. The lable read "Aleppo Pepper Hot Sauce." 'That sounds pretty hot.'

"Ok, sounds like you want to redeem yourself, good thinking. And you know I think I should be getting back to my brothers, they're probably getting worried sick about me by now. Same with Pura. I'm still in for helping you and Uka Uka with your plan but since Cortex isn't here..."

"We know Coco, remember you're the alternative to Brio's truth serum so we'll need you here when we serve the master his lunch ." Pulling a small round device with a mic attached to it out of his pocket, N Gin handed it to the girl.

"Communicator?" She wondered taking it in hand and placing it her ear.

"Precisely. So if Cortex comes back here, which let's face it, he has to at some point, then we'll give you a buzz, am I right?" The cyborg chuckled.

"Right..Just keep me posted and give me a heads up when he gets back, cause right now I need to get back to my brothers. Oh and Brio asked me to give this to you." Coco handed him the serum, to which N Gin clicked his teeth and gave an 'ok' gesture in return as he set the beaker down next to the glass. With a nod, Coco headed out of the kitchen.

The rest of the N Team had a look of concern. Clearly it was due to the noise. "Is N Gin alright?" N Brio asked. "Just curious, hence the noise? You know how unstable he can be?"

"He's fine just making a mess and look guys I'm all for working with the enemy against my own brothers but I'm only doing this to protect Crash. I don't trust Cortex as far as I could throw him, which wouldn't be very far at all. Right now I've gotta go check in with the family. I'm also taking the flashdrive with me, if you guys don't mind?" Coco hoped they wouldn't.

"We don't care what you do with that and what about when Cortex returns?" Uka Uka asked, obviously concerned about their plan. Coco moved a strand of hair behind her ear and revealed N Gin's device. "Ah, communicator, perfect. We can rely on N Gin for some things."

"Great, I'll find time to listen to the playlist all the way through. Oh and speaking of N Gin, he's well on track with Cortex's lunch and said he would give me a heads up. I've got to go for now. As I told that cyborg, keep me in the loop. I'll find a way to get back here somehow. I'll probably have to make up an excuse but I can manage that."

The time master and witch doctor again couldn't argue with logic like that, especially with the sister of their worst enemy.

Uka Uka and N Tropy smirked at each other then looked at Coco. She gave the same expression back. "This'll be fun but for now I'm off." Giving a salute the bandicoot girl ran out the door.

The N Team, all except Uka Uka and N Gin rubbed their hands together evilly.

This was all going to be worth it.


Crabs quickly sidestepped out of the way and buried themselves into the sand to avoid getting trampled under foot, as Crunch, Crash and Aku Aku hurried along the sandy beaches. Their quest to find their sister was their number one priority at the moment.

"Coco didn't say she was going anywhere, the last thing I remember her telling us was she was heading out to play with Pura." Crunch recalled as he gazed down upon the tiger cub. Pura was growling, she'd been growling and meowing loudly ever since she had seen the two members of the N Team come to the Bandicoots house and bargain with Coco. "Pura, it's alright, we'll find her." Crunch soothed as Crash rubbed the cub between her ears.

The feeling of contentment came over Coco's riding companion. Purring happily, along with her tail wagging, Pura continued to follow the bandicoot brothers and Aku Aku. Her senses were on high alert however.

The mask carefully observed the ground, looking for clues while Crash and Crunch had two sets of eyes trained on the horizon and up in the air. "I get the feeling that she's not on the beach anywhere." Aku Aku admitted, looking out to sea when heard a seagull caw overhead. "Because if she was, there would be footprints left in the sand." He carefully studied the tide that was begining to roll in. Waves rushed forward, lapping at the sand and pulling it back out to the ocean. "If they were here left on shore by our sister, they're probably long gone now." Crash's ears flattened against his head. A whimper of concern starting to rise in his throat, due to anxiety that something bad would become of his only sweet, genius sister. Who would help him figure things out? Who would fix up their karts in case another race were to arise out of nowhere? Where could she be?

Crunch gave Crash a little pat on the shoulder and Crash knew that meant reassurance. He only gave his older brother a half smile however, Crash was aware that the only thing Crunch knew a lot about was weight lifting, exercise body building and family. Everything else was very minimal.

Pura then started sniffing the ground, hoping to pick up her owners scent. The tiger cub was currently unaware as to where the N Teams shelter resided. Again if she could talk, the bandicoots would have already found her. The cub couldn't seem to pick up Coco's trail, the ocean water must've washed any trace of it away. Pura could only figure that the bandicoot family wasn't going to leave any stone unturned. Looking twords Crash, he was literally doing just that as he began flipping over various rocks and shells.

"Well, where do you guys purpose we look now since we don't have any leads to work with?" Crunch wondered as he stopped suddenly to stretch out his legs. "The forest? The other side of N Sanity Island? A different island perhaps?" The older bandicoot started throwing out suggestions of potential locations. "Just taking a guess here since there are no clues..." He paused breifly to let his idea fully sink into his brain. "How about if we just wait and see what happens. I mean if Coco headed off on her own then she's bound to return to the house eventually, right? Crash?" Crunch looked tword his concerned sibling who simply shook his head yes.

The witch doctor mask raised an eyebrow. "Well, Crash seems on board with that plan. You're right, if Coco went out by herself, then she can get herself back home. We know that she can defend herself of needed and the way she was working the punching bag last night, Coco knows how to hit. Of course, being the concerned family we are, let's just look a little bit more."


Heading into the forest, Pura continued her task of finding her owners scent. "See anything guys?" Aku Aku asked. Crash and Crunch both came up negative and with no results.

"Coco!? Where are you?! If you're around, give us a sign would you?!" Crunch shouted.

"Coco?!" Aku Aku yelled.

As she headed along the edge of the beach of N Sanity Island back twords home, Coco's ears stood up when she heard her name being called. Running twords the sound of her family she called out. "Guys, over here!"

Crash and Pura were the first to take off. "Hey, don't leave us behind!" Crunch shouted, he understood that the whole was worried about Coco but that wasn't an excuse to leave any family member behind.

Crash zipped right past everyone else and stretched his arms out, welcoming Coco in a hug as he lifted her off the ground. "Hi Crash. What are you guys doing on the beach?"

"What are we doing? Looking for you, Pura hasn't stopped meowing ever since she saw you walk off. Where have you been?" Crunch demanded. "Do you realize we've been worried sick about you?"

Coco couldn't have been any more right when she thought the family would be concerned about her.

After piecing together a (hopefully) good excuse, she spoke. "Well, I decided to go for a walk you know, try to forget about Cortex? Turns out, walking does a great job when in comes to clearing your head. It actually worked. I headed off along the beach twords the cave leading to Totem Hokum and I guess I lost track of time." Coco silently gave a nervous chuckle and tried not to avert her gaze away from her brothers. Crash then released her and gave a smile. "Well I'm back now." Pura dashed forward and lept up into the air, as she came back down her owner caught the cub in her arms. She started meowing and licking Coco's face, making her giggle. "No need to worry Pura, I'm fine, just trying to get things in order."

"Well good to know you're safe, we don't know when my brother and the rest of our worst enemies could come around. We've just got to be ready." Aku informed. "So keep on your toes guys."

"Yes sir, I'm always on high alert! Why do you guys think I keep a close eye on our house everyday?" Crunch gave a salute, same with Crash except the younger bandicoots tongue flopped out of his mouth.

"So true Crunch. Ok guys, let's get back home, I've still got to check the engines on the rest of our karts ." Coco decided. As they started walking back, she breathed in a sigh of relief. 'That was too close for comfort, they didn't notice that I lied. For now, I'll keep this on the down low..."

A/N

Yo! Readers, what up? We be back in the hizzouse! XD With this new chapter added (which is now the longest) it currently makes this story over 50,000 words! Woo! Hoo! Milestones!

I have no idea where I got the idea for that end scene with Cortex and Natalie. That's just the way I saw it but hey this sets up all sorts of possibilities for the next time. :P N Gin's chef outfit is from Nitro Fueled and the line from Coco 'I don't trust Cortex as far as I could throw him' that's a reference to the Crash Bash game manuals description of Cortex.

Ya'll, yo? Wait...hizzouse?! *facepalms* Ok folks, clearly she's lost her marbles. Get one intro and sick with it.

Kidding Cortex I got that last word from The Middle. Speaking of The Middle, that's the fandom where the quote 'you do for family' comes from :P Alright. *gives a wave to reviewers* Another chapter done. This whole Coronavirus outbreak is daunting. But does that stop me from writing this story? No!

It gives her plenty of time to write.

FlautaRara: So glad I could make you happy. I know, my hype for this ship goes off sometimes too. I totally understand. If you haven't already, check out the oneshot spin off series. ;)

This family drama is getting interesting. What's going to happen with the Cortex family?

Speaking of that in this chapter and the last one, why is there always that 'one' scene in a bar or club? Why?!

I have no idea. Alright until next time, keep smiling! I know I am.